THE LIRA CHINESA BY MACHADO DE ASSIS

Author of numerous articles and publications on related topics, amongst others: Condenado à morte (Condemned to Death), 1963; O chinês alfabético em plano nacional e um sistema novo de leitura de caracteres (Alphabetic Chinese on Scientific Grounds and a New System for the Reading of Characters), 1970; and Curso de cantonês (A Course in Guangdongnese), 1972.

The following Classical Chinese works have been annotated, transliterated and translated into Portuguese, by Fr. Joaquim A. de Jesus Guerra: O Livro dos Cantares (The Book of Songs) [1st edition: 1979]; Escrituras Selectas (Selected Writings) [1st edition: 1980]; Quadras de Lu e Relação Auxiliar (Lu's Quatrains and Additional Commentary), 4 vols. [1st edition: 1981-1983, 5 vols.]; Quadrivolume de Confúcio (Four Volumes of Confucius) [1st edition: 1984]; As Obras de Mâncio (The Works of Mâncio) [1st edition: 1984], O Livro das Mutaçōes (The Book of Changes) [1st edition:1984] -all reprinted: Macao - Toronto - San Francisco/Calif., Instituto Cultural de Macau - Aidan Publicities and Printing, 1990.

The author's romanised transliteration system, still relevant today, worked towards a solution with the pinyin uniformisation system, officially introduced by the First Plenary Session of the First National Popular Congress of the People's Republic of China, on the 21st February 1958.

My friend Fr. Manuel Teixeira sent me the latest edition of "Boletim do Instituto Luís de Camões" ("The Bulletin of the Luís de Camões Institute"), in which there is a study on the Lira Chinesa1 (Chinese Lyre) by Machado de Assis, "so that I can listen to the chords of the Chinese Lyre (he wrote), and say whether it is in tune." An old friend always deserves a reply.

The aforementioned study is written by Edgar Colby Knowlton Jr. who dedicates his work to the memory of the late Luís Gonzaga Gomes, and in the hope that some of the Bulletin's readers can shed more light on points and areas that remain unclear.

From the circle of Machado de Assis' admirers, I hereby present my modest contribution.

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (°1839-†908) is one of the most regaled of 'Cariocas'. Henrique Perdigão2 recalls that this eminent writer was born into a family of labourers and owes his brilliant literary career to the exceptional quality of his character and work. He is considered the 'Eça de Queirós' of Brazilian literature. Laudelino Freire wrote of him: "Of all the literary people, he was the most respected and loved. He was surrounded by an atmosphere of loving attention, appreciation and respect [...]. As a human being he had a pure, clear, and perfect conscience."

Machado de Assis was one of the founders of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Literary Academy) and its first President. Upon his death it was Rui Barbosa who succeeded him. His most important works are Chrysalidas, 3 Phalenas, 4 Americanas, 5 and Ocidentais. 6 In 1901, a collective edition of these works was published under the title Poesias Completas7 (Complete Poetical Works). Eight poems, that Machado de Assis entitled Lira Chinesa (Chinese Lyre), were added to the collection, Phalenas. He himself explains in a footnote: "The poets who I have imitated in this collection are all contemporary. I discovered them in a book which was published in 1868 [sic] by Mrs Judith Walter, a well respected traveller who is said to have a deep understanding of the Chinese Language which enables her to translate it into clear and fluent prose."

The book referred to here is Le Livre de Jade (The Book of Jade) that was first published in 1867. 8 According to Edgar Knowlton, Judith Walter (Judith Gautier), on her father's advice, learnt Chinese with the scholar, Tin-Tun-Ling, ** from 1863 onwards. Le Livre de Jade contains seventy poems by various different Chinese authors, translated into rhythmic prose. As Schwartz has pointed out, Judith Walter, above all, tried mainly to recapture the inspiration of the original texts and so linguistic fidelity was sometimes sacrificed. Her book is nearer French Literature than Sinology. I presume that this is why Machado de Assis used 'similar words' rather than direct translations. If Le Livre de Jade is an 'imitation' rather than a translation, so too is the Lira Chinesa.

Judith Walter's selection contains fourteen poems attributed to Thou-Fou [Du Fu]杜甫 Dow Phu [Du Fu]杜甫is the great eighth century Chinese poet and his brilliance is still renowned in Chinese Literature. As it happens, two of these fourteen poems were completely mutilated by the French writer and the other twelve, as William Hung says, were pure invention on her part. Many other people have abused Dupu's fame and have credited their own poems to him. It is feared that Judith Waiter's knowledge of Chinese was not as deep as Machado de Assis thought. Anyway, even the authentic poems in the Le Livre de Jade are nothing more than versions of the original, guided, perhaps, by the master, Tin-Tun-Ling. It was these French texts, in fine rhythmic prose, that Machado de Assis translated into Portuguese with great art, remaining close to the original.

To be able to compare and appraise these poems, the original Chinese texts need to be seen. But this is impossible since Judith Walter went as far as to pass off what was merely her own creative endeavour as the work of Du Fu. When it comes to the names of the poets that appear in the Lira Chinesa, they are written as they are in Judith Walter's French Romanisation, and are almost all unrecognisable. Such is the ill fate of Romanisations, which I shall talk about later on.

Machado de Assis was under the impression that all the authors referred to in Le Livre de Jade were contemporary. Perhaps Judith Walter wrote this herself. Whoever put together the edition that Machado de Assis used could have verified this. The truth is, in actual fact, very different. The first poem in the Lira Chinesa, which Machado de Assis entitled As flôres e os pinheiros (The Flowers and the Pine Trees), would have been contemporary as it is believed to be the work of the scholar Tin-Tun-Ling.

The second poem, O leque (The Fan), dates back to Before Christ. It deals with a very well-known work in Chinese Literature that is called Tsheo shyen uyn [Qiu Shan Yuan] 秋扇怨, a very expressive title that means: the lamentation (uyn) [yuan] 怨, of a fan (shyen) [shah] 扇 in Autumn (tsheo) [qiu] 怨. It actually dates back to the end of the first century BC. It was composed by the lady Paen Dsiedwe [Ban Jie Yu] 班婕妤 who wrote it on a silk fan and left it for the Emperor Zdyeqtey (Sintar) [Chengdi] 成帝 when she abandoned the palace. Chengdi reigned from the year 32BC to the year 6BC, and so until the eve of the birth of Christ, given that the Christian Calendar was calculated with a five to six year delay. The author was 'Beautiful', even unto her name, Dsiedwe (pronounced Cédue). She belonged to the distinguished Paen family who were related to General Pen Tjhao [Ban Zhao]班超 (of the victorious military campaigns in Central Asia) and the famous historians Paen Piao [Ban Biao] 班彪 and Paen Koes [Ban Gu] 班固 (father and son), the latter who, with the help of his sister Paen Tjao, [Ban Zhao] 班超 also left his mark on Chinese Literature. What is strange is that Judith Walter attributed The Fan (L'eventail) to a certain Tan-Jo-Su.

The third poem of the Lira Chinesa is O poeta a rir (The Poet Laughing). The author is given as Han-Tiê [Wang Ji]王绩in Machado de Assis' version, whereas in Le Livre de Jade it is attributed to Ouan-Tiê [Wang Ji] 王绩.

According to others, the poems O imperador (The Emperor) and Reflexos (Reflections), in the Lira chinesa, are both the work of Du Fu. However, O imperador is one of those doubtful poems that was wrongly attributed to the distinguished poet. Judith Walter's teacher would appear to be of the Hakka (Xhakca) [Ke Jia] 客家 race and Language since Le Livre de Jade included Du Fu, inspired by the poet's surname. The breathing on the sixth tone (3rd inferior) is typical of Ke Jia.

Du Fu lived in the eighth century (°712-†770). He was one of the most talented of poets and due to this he managed to dominate the art which seemed to lend itself so naturally to his suffering. Born poor, he lived an impoverished life. His death was said to be caused by indigestion following a long, compulsory fast. But Du Fu had a remarkable sense of humour, knowing exactly how to lighten serious or even tragic situations with happy tones. Above all he was human and lived close to the social problems of his time, touching the splendour and suffering of his Country. He spent many years as a simple clerk which never brought wealth to his family. As a young man he often travelled to and around the Chinese coast. He would have also visited the South. One day when he returned home to see his wife and children, he heard crying as he neared the house. His youngest son had died of hunger! At the close of the very same year, 755, the victorious Dão (Dá) [Chao] 长 Dynasty was disappearing once and for all as the two Capitals, Dyao-Aon (Doan) [Chang'an] 长安 and Rawk-Yão (Raxo) [Luoyang] 洛阳 were being destroyed by the Aon Logsean [An Lushan] 安禄山 Rebellion. Du Fu thus witnessed the cultural and military zenith of Emperor Huentsoq (Wenthu) [Xuanzhong] 玄宗, the founder of the Hanlem (Allam) [Hanlin Yuan] 翰林院 Academy whose generals crossed the Pamir [Pami'er] 帕米尔 and reached Oxus. He also saw the same Emperor hastily retreat to Seztjhuen [Sichuan] 四川 where he abdicated in favour of his son. Du Fu left for Zdyeqto [Chengdu] 成都 in 760. He was fifty-eight years old when he died in a flood while returning to the Province of Haonaem [Henan] 河南 where he was born.

Machado de Assis gave the sixth poem 'imitated' by him the title A uma mulher (To a Woman) [À la plus belle femme du bateau des fleurs, is the French title]. Judith Walter cited Tché-Tsi as the author. I doubt that it has anything to do with the seventh century poet Wão Tsec [Wanji] 王绩, although he wrote a poem called The Jewel in the English version. Then comes A folha do salgueiro (The Willow Tree Leaf) and the French writer says it is by Tchan-Tiou-Lin [Zhang Jinling] 张九龄 It would appear to be by Tyão Keuleq [Zhang Jinling] 张九龄 (°672-†740), and hence far from contemporary. Neither was he a contemporary of Du Fu given that he lived a hundred years earlier.

The last chords of the Lira Chinesa are from the Coração triste falando ao sol (Sad Heart speaking to the Sun), a work by Su-Tchon [Su Xun] 苏询 that nobody knew how to identify.

Having examined the poets and their poems in the Lira Chinesa, we can now assess the quality of the translation by the Brazilian scholar. As we have already seen, Machado de Assis preferred to say 'imitation': imitations of the French texts that were also imitations, rather than close translations of the Chinese.

Starting with the titles, Machado de Assis shortened a number of them as he believed that titles should be brief; the result is therefore less expressive. Thus, instead of As flôres e os pinheiros (The Flowers and the Pines), Le Livre de Jade reads Les petites fleurs se moquent des graves sapins. And instead of O poeta a rir (The Poet Laughing) the French reads Un poète rit dans son bateau. The title Sur le fleuve Tchou was reduced to the non-descriptive Reflexos (Reflections), this is not to mention the title of the sixth poem A uma mulher (To a woman) which Judith Walter entitled À la plus belle femme du bateau des fleurs. Even the title of the last poem, Le cœur triste au soleil, was changed to Coração triste falando ao Sol (A Sad Heart Speaking to the Sun). The meanings are not the same: the "heart" which was simply under the "sun" has now begun "speaking".

As for the rest, the polished poetical style of Machado de Assis surpasses the French versions that translated the original verses into prose. Allow me, nonetheless, to point out a few flaws, since Fr. Manuel Teixeira did ask me to test and assess the tuning of the Lyre.

In the third poem, the last part is described in French as follows: "Je laisse mon bateau glisser doucement sur l'eau, et je souris de voir la nature | imiter ainsi les hommes." It is unquestionably expressed poetically. However, Machado de Assis simply translates it as: "Faz-me rir verte assim, ó natureza, / Cópia servil dos homens." ("It makes me laugh / to see you like this, o nature, / a slavish copy of man"). It was a pity that our poet missed out the poetic effect of the boat floating down-stream. It would also have been better had he kept the description of the smile (as it was not laughter), and given a simple account without resorting to abuse.

In addition, I think the expression "Cópia servil" ("slavish copy") less fitting. After all, is man not the first miracle of Nature, and the envy of other creatures? Furthermore, Man is on a mission from God to dominate and conquer the World; and this is why Nature is only esteemed and admired when in the service of its rightful owner.

It is regrettable that Machado de Assis did not have access to a wider, richer source of Chinese Poetry, enabling him to pick the sounds on his vibrant Lyre. But even though a great linguist, he was not familiar with Chinese. Even more regrettable was the fact that there were not even any appropriate Portuguese translations of the Chinese Classics. It is hard to believe that after four-hundred years of friendly Luso-Chinese relations, a complete translation of the Chinese Classics did not emerge in Macao, a land otherwise blessed by God. But perhaps this substantial gap will be filled shortly, since some of the Classics have now been translated from the original and only need a Maecenas or cultural Foundation to publish them. I do so wish that Machado de Assis were alive so that I could show him my version of the Collection of Classical Chinese Poetry (I call it O Livro dos Cantares [The Book of Songs]), a treasure chest of unknown jewels which are otherwise distorted in existing translations (Latin, English and French). However, the Brazilian poet died the year I was born; and it was not until the latter part of my life that I came into contact with these millenary, Faith illuminating works of the Humanities, which once lit should never again be extinguished.

I would finally like to point out the problem that was mentioned earlier, which foreigners come upon when dealing with anything to do with Chinese. The names of people and places, that authors read and write in their own individual ways, greatly confuses us, the readers. In actual fact, some speak and write in Mandarin, some in Guangdongnese, some in Ke Jia, and so it continues. There are big differences between them. I remember a certain historian with whom I once travelled from Shanghai to Nanjing who thought it necessary to make this observation with regard to Shiu-Hing [Zhaoqing] 肇庆: Tchau-K'ing who is today known as Shiu-Hing [sic]. All Chinese characters are the same, the difference merely being in their readings in Mandarin or Guangdongnese! Added to this is the authors' use of different Romanisations, some of which are written in Portuguese, English, French, etc., and each of which corresponds to their National phonetics or other preferences. So for example, the same name, Shiu-Hing, pronounced in Guangdongnese, would be written Chio-Hing (by a Frenchman), Siu-Jing (by a Spaniard) and Siu-Heng (by a Portuguese person).

In the case of the Lira Chinesa, Machado de Assis made Judith Walter's French Romanisations more Portuguese: Thu-Fu became Thou-Fou; Tchan-Tiú-Lin became Tchan-Tiou-Lin. The French writer read the names in Mandarin or perhaps Ke Jia as I mentioned earlier. At other times it is simply a case of spelling mistakes as in Tan-Jo-Lu (Machado de Assis) instead of Tan-Jo-Su, Han-Tiê or Ouan-Tié.

This worrying problem is still awaiting an Official solution or at least an outline from the Press Agencies and Librarian's Society. At the general meetings of ISO TC/46 (Trade Commission 46 - Documentation of the International Standards Organisation) in which I participated, (Paris, Stockholm, Lisbon and the Hague) as a representative of the Centro Português de Normalização (Portuguese Centre for Normalization), integrated in the Inspecção Geral dos Produtos Agrícolas e Industriais (General Inspectorate for Industrial and Agricultural Products), I fought for a viable solution to the problem. Very little was achieved. In the end Portugal relinquished its Membership to the ISO Commission and the actual Sub-Comissão da Conversão das Escritas (Sub-Comission for the Convertion of Writings) was dissolved.

The poor results of the ISO Sub-Commission were, as had been feared, partly due to the powerful Anglo-American bloc who did not want to drop the Regulations they had been following for a long time, just to take on the International Regulations that were being discussed and were gaining favour.

On the other hand, I have always believed that the Countries where the problems originate from should be present to guide the talks. It took several years to convert the Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic Alphabets, just as it did the Chinese. However, Russia was not represented and neither was China. Chinese characters, as is commonly known, are also used in Korea and Japan. Korea did not show much interest since they already had an Alphabet, Hangul, invented in 1446 during the reign of Seijong the Great. Koreans are great inventors: they invented the moving printing press two-hunded years prior to Guttenberg. It was from Korea that Chinese characters and culture were introduced into Japan, from the Paekje Empire onwards (18BC-663AD). The Hangul Alphabet had eleven vowels and seventeen consonants, which today have been reduced to ten and fourteen respectively. It is beautiful writing, well suited to the Korean Language in which the words derived from the Chinese are pronounced uniformly, without tones.

There is also only one Language in Japan and the words of Chinese origin, the majority, have adapted to the Country, losing the tones that they had in China. This is why the problem of alphabetisation of Japanese and that of the conversion of Hangul appeared to be relatively easy. In Japan, with the support of the Ministry for Education, the three Romanisation systems (Nippon, Kunrei and Hepburn) were tested in ninety Primary Schools from September 1948 to March 1949. Each school chose the system they preferred. Depending on the results, the Government would later decide which system to make Official. It would appear that none of them showed any particular advantage over the other; and so the situation remained the same. In the XII Stockholm Meeting (October 1969), the Japanese Representative told us that there was little interest in the problem within Japan.

In China it is very different because various Languages use the characters, making it impossible to find a National Alphabet that satisfies all of them although attempts have been made. The National Alphabet (Kvawk'em Bhohaow) [Zhu Yin Fu Hao] 注音符号, which was so generalised in Primary Education books in comparison to characters, was made Official by the Nationalist Government. They then also made the Gwoyeu Romatzyh [Guo Yu Luo Ma Zi] 国语罗马字 system Official, which, if I am correct, was put forward by the Academy of Sinology. However, both of these systems were only of any use for the Mandarin Dialect, its pronunciation being Official. Latinxua [La Ding Hua] 拉丁化, which was promoted by the Communists, also suffered the same limitations. In China there are, at present, several sufficiently different spoken Languages that should be taken into consideration in a truly Nationwide scheme. Chinese characters have been the common written Language of China for thousands of years and have greatly contributed to National unification. This is partly because they are easy to read comparatively according to the regional Dialect, a fact that should not be forgotten. For thousands of years neither the people nor any Government have expected the population of Guangdong to stop speaking Guangdongnese. At the worst, most unnatural and utopian of solutions would be to want to resolve the problem and thus unify the Language. Until then the confusion will continue. The same names will still be written differently in newspapers and in encyclopaedias according to the different authors, leading uninformed readers to believe that different people and places are being referred to.

It was partly to help find a solution to this problem that, for at least thirty years, I worked at developing the system that is now called "the Chinese Alphabetic", published in Macao, 1970, in Chinese, Portuguese and English. 10

The Chinese Alphabetic is just as the title of the Chinese edition points out: Tyoqmhen dsezmu: nhxphão em ed saiphat [Pinyin Hanyu] 拼音汉语 (Chinese Alphabetic: a single written form for all the pronunciations in China). After examining the new system, an appropriately qualified priest from Taiwan came to the conclusion that the problem had, in the most part, been solved. Now all that needs to be done is to publicise it and extensively test it, with the aim to eventually make it Official.

In this article, Chinese names are written in "the Chinese Alphabetic" where the equivalent characters were known; where they were not known I left them in the Romanisation used by their respective authors.

However, as well as "the Chinese Alphabetic", there is also now the possibility of writing Chinese names, or other Chinese words, in derived phonetics following a system that is awaiting publication. By means of a conversion table, the sounds systematically go from Chinese inter-Dialectic phonetics and spelling to a Universal phonetics that appears to be the basis and structure of all Languages.

This article also has examples of derived phonetics such as: Sintar (Zdyeqtey), Wenthu (Huentsoq), Cédue (Dsiedwe). In this same derived or converted phonetics Shiu-Hing (Zdya wxhya) would be written as Sain; Canton (Kvauqtoq) - Quatro; Xiangang [Hong Kong] (Xeãokauq) - Joca; Kowloon (Keuloq) - Colu; Macao (Aowmoen) - Almon; Tanzai [Taipa] (Damhtsei) - Dançar or Danthar; Coloane (Lowwhaen) - Ruwen.

It should be noted that the word Macao is already in derived phonetics or at least it appears to be, just as the word China is. If these two words are derived from the Chinese, via an evolutionary process (as is believed), it is a case of waiting to see if the Chinese will use them or not. Macao could be derived from mhãw + caav (wait, with the intention of + nearer, relations, interval (land/tract). The much discussed word, China, could simply mean: enormous region (the) of the Orient (Chin). If this be the case, the Chinese are the Orientals. ***

Translated from the Portuguese by: Louisa Hoyer-Millar

CHINESE GLOSSARY

An Lushan (Aon Logsean) 安禄山

Aomen (Aowmoen; Almon) 澳门

Ban Biao (Paen Piao) 班彪

Ban Gu (Paen Koes) 班固

Ban Jieyu [Pan Chien-yü; Tan-Jo-Lu; Tan-Jo-Su] (PaenDsiedwe; Cédue) 班婕妤

Ban Zhao (Paen Tjao; Paen Tjhao) 班超

Chang'an (Dyão-Aon; Doan) 长安

Chang-Chiu-Ling - see: Zhang Jiuling.

Chengdi (Zdyeqtey; Sintar) 成帝

Chengdu (Zdyeqto) 成都

Dangzai [Tan Zai] (Damhtsei) - see: Tan Zai

Du Fu 杜甫

Du Fu [Thou-Fou; Thu-Fu; Tu Fu; Du Fu] (Dow Phu) 杜甫

Guangdong (Kvauqtoq; Quatro) 广东

Guangzhou (Kvauqtoq; Quatro) 广州

Guo Yuo Luo Ma Zi (Gwoyeu Romatzyh) 国语罗马字

Hanlin Yuan (Hawnlem; Allam) 翰林院

Han-Tiê - see: Wang Ji.

Henan (Haonaem) 河南

Huetsoq (Wenthu) see: Xuanzong.

Jiulong (Keuloq; Colu) 九龙

Ke Jia (Hakka; Xhakca) 客家

La Ding Hua (Latinxua) 拉丁化

Lu Huan (Lowwhaen; Ruwen) 路环

Luoyang (Rawk-Yão; Raxo) 洛阳

Ouan-Tié - see: Wang Ji.

Pamier (Pamir) 帕米尔

Pan Chien-yü - see: Ban Jieyu.

Pinyin Hanyu (Tyoqmhen dsezmu: nhxphão em ed saiphat) 拼音汉语

Qiu Shan Yuan (Tsheo Shyen Uyn) 秋扇怨

Shiu-Hing - see: Zhaoqing

Sichuan (Seztjhuen) 四川

Su-Tchon - see: Su Xun.

Su Xun [Su-Tchon] 苏询

Tan-Jo-Lu - see: Ban Jieyu.

Tan-Jo-Su - see: Ban Jieyu.

Tan Zai [Taipa] (Damhtsei) 凼仔

Tang Chao (Dão; Dá) 唐朝

Tchan-Tiou-Lin - see: Zhang Jiuling.

Tchan-Tiú-Lin - see: Zhang Jiuling.

Tchau-K'ing - see: Zhaoqing.

Thou-Fou - see: Du Fu.

Thu-Fu - see: Du Fu.

Tu Fu - see: Du Fu.

Wang Chi - see: Wang Ji.

Wang Ji [Han-Tiê; Ouan-Tié; Wang Chi]

Xiangang [Hong Kong] (Xeãokauq) 香港

Xuanzong (Huentsoq; Wenthu) 玄宗

Zhang Jiuling [Chang-Chiu-Ling; Tchan-Tiou-Lin; Tchan-Tiu-Lin] 张九龄

Zhaoqing [Shiu-Hing; Tchau-K'ing] (Sain; Zdyawxhyq) 肇庆

Zhu Yin Fu Hao (Kvawk' em Bhohaw) 注音符号

NOTES

** Revised transliterations of Chinese entities, names, geographical locations and sites were transcribed from the original text as spelled. Whenever possible, matching pinyin transliterations appear in straight parenthesis [ ] following the original transliterations when they first appear, thereinafter always in pinyin. When it was impossible to ascertain an exact entity, name, geographical location or site, there were left in their corresponding characters (and marked with a double asterix**) no corresponding characters being provided in the Chinese Glossary, alphabetically listed according to the pinyin transliterations.

*** Revised Reprint from: GUERRA, Joaquim A. de Jesus, A "Lira Chinesa" de Machado de Assis, in "Boletim do Instituto Luís de Camões", Macau, 11 (2-3) Verão-Outono [Summer-Autumn] 1977, pp.201-210.

1 KNOWLTON Jr., Edgar Colby, Machado de Assis and His "Lira Chinesa", in "Boletim do Instituto Luís de Camões", Macau, 10 (3-4) Outono-Inverno [Autumn-Winter] 1976, pp. 165-183.

2 PERDIGÃO, Henrique, Dicionário Universal de Literatura, Barcelos, 1934.

3 ASSIS, Machado de, Chrysalidas, Rio de Janeiro, B. L. Gamier/Livreiro Editor do Instituto Histórico Brasileiro, 1864.

4 ASSIS, Machado de, Phalenas, Rio de Janeiro, B. L. Garnier/Livreiro Editor do Instituto Histórico Brasileiro, 1870.

5 ASSIS, Machado de, Americanas, Rio de Janeiro, B. L. Gamier/Livreiro Editor do Instituto Histórico Brasileiro, 1875.

6 ASSIS, Machado de, Ocidentais, in "Poesias Completas", H. Gamier, 1901

7 ASSIS, Machado de, Poesias Completas, Rio de Janeiro, H. Gamier, 1901,.

8 GAUTIER, Judith, Le livre de jade, Paris, Lemerre, 1867 [1st edition].

9 GAUTIER, Judith, Le livre de jade, Paris, Lemerre, 1868 [2nd edition].

10 GUERRA, Joaquim A. de Jesus, O chinês alfabético em plano nacional [..] (Alphabetic Chinese on scientific grounds [...]) (Tyoqmhen dsezmu: nhxphão em ed saiphat [...]), Macau, Imprensa da Missão do Padroado, 1970.

* In 1925, joined the Society of Jesus and was later awarded an MA in Philosophy. In 1933, left for the mission of Zhaoqing, in China, founded by Matteo Ricci in September 1583. Ordained in Shanghai, obtained a Diploma in Theology from the Faculty of Belarmino, in the same city. Lived for many years in China. In his life-time, considered by many to be the greatest Portuguese Sinologist. Translator and interpreter of the major Chinese classics.